Tag: 2023 Week 10

TV coverage maps, how to stream Cowboys-Giants, plus 10 top prop bets

Are you one of the few who will be screwed by the regional coverage rules? If you’re in red, you get to move ahead. If you’re in blue, here’s what you’ll need to do. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys are once again America’s Game of the Week. After falling to the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in Week 9, the Cowboys return to the friendly confines of AT&T Stadium where they’ve won 11 games in a row. That’s the longest streak in the NFL currently and if Dallas is who they think they are, should not be challenged this week.

The mid-afternoon kickoff will begin the annual four-games-in-19-days gauntlet Dallas does every November with the back-to-back Sundays followed by back-to-back Thursday kickoffs. Dallas will likely need to sweep all four games if they hope to have any chance of winning the NFC East, already 2 games behind the Philadelphia Eagles in the loss column.

Dallas shouldn’t be looking past the Giants, but should rather be looking at them as the initial step up the stairway to where they want to be at the conclusion of the regular season. Here’s how to catch that action, and maybe get involved in some along the way.

Behind Enemy Lines: Cowboys-Giants rematch has NY media waving white flags?

After putting a shoe the size of Brian Daboll in his mouth in Week 1, has the Giants Wire editor come to his senses about the rematch? | From @KDDrummondNFL

New York City is a proud city with proud inhabitants, and it makes for fun banter anytime the Giants are on the Cowboys’ schedule. By fun, we mean delusional. Our enemy intel series, where we trade questions with the managing editor of the Dallas opponent for the week has brought some classic examples of a lack of self awareness. To a tee, every time we link up with Dan Benton, he has a ton of negatively skewed questions and euphoria-laced responses when we try to size each other’s teams up.

Has he learned his lesson? The Giants are struggling at 2-7 on the year, have lost their starting and backup quarterback and neither of them looked good anyway. The last time we spoke, Benton was highly confident Daniel Jones was the much better option to Dak Prescott, the Giants were on an elevator up and the Cowboys were in for a season of disapppointment. Then 40-0 happened. So we figured it’d be a good time to check in with Benton once again to see if his tune has changed from, well, this prior interview.

3 things Cowboys must do to avoid an upset against Giants in Week 10

If the Cowboys want to avoid an upset this week against the Giants, there are a few important things they must do, says @ReidDHanson.

The Cowboys are 17.5-point favorites over the division-rival, New York Giants in Week 10. It’s a spread that rivals many college football games and appears as the clearest sure thing Dallas has seen since Week 3 in Arizona.

But much like that torrid affair in the desert, this game has trap written all over it. Not only are the Cowboys still coming down from their nail-biter against the Eagles last Sunday, but they are early favorites in their next four games. Mentally chalking these up as automatic wins is a natural impulse they simply have to resist.

It all starts in Week 10. The Cowboys set the tone for the next four games on Sunday against New York. If they can stay focused on the task and do what they are expected to do, they can come out of the upcoming stretch smelling like roses.

But if they take it for granted and allow a wild card like the Giants to get the upset, the hole in their potential playoff seeding may be insurmountable. Here are three keys to avoiding getting upended.

55-man roster, Week 10 elevations reveal Cowboys need at LB

A look at the Cowboys’ roster they’ll choose to go to war with against the New York Giants in Week 10.

The Dallas Cowboys are all set to take on the New York Giants in Week 10, but had one last bit of housekeeping to tend to. Every Saturday, teams in play on Sunday are allowed to elevate up to two players from their practice squads to be on the game-day, 48-man roster.

While teams operate with 53 players, the trim down to 48 was instituted years ago to make things fair for teams suffering a large amount of injuries. The elevations, capped at three times per player, help further even the field. For Week 10, Dallas is elevating just one player for the second week in a row, Rashaan Evans.

The linebacker, signed a few weeks ago after Leighton Vander Esch was placed on IR with a neck injury, will be elevated for the third and final time. If Dallas wants to use him after this week, they’ll need to add him to the main roster. Speaking of which, here’s a look at everyone eligible for the contest.

Quarterbacks (3)
Running Backs (4)
Wideouts (6)
Tight Ends (3)
Offensive Tackles (3)
Offensive Guards (4)
Centers (2)

Defensive Ends (5)
Defensive Tackles (5)
Linebacker (4)
Cornerbacks (6)
Safeties (6)

Special Teams (3)

 

Special rules for special players: Why the Cowboys are right to pamper Tyron Smith

It’s not about developing Tyron Smith; it’s about preserving him, and Smith has shown the Cowboys he can walk right into gameday a perform. | From @ReidDHanson.

The Cowboys knew 2023 was going to be an adventure of sorts when they brought 32-year-old Tyron Smith back for another run at the Lombardi. Smith had only played a combined 17 regular season games over the last three seasons, and the last time he logged a full-16, Dak Prescott was still throwing passes at Mississippi State.

Smith’s availability issues resulted in a restructured contract over the offseason. Both sides of the table recognized the situation and worked to resolve it in order for the former All-Pro to stay in Dallas another season. Now at the midpoint of the season, the Cowboys and Smith find themselves back at the table, so to speak, to work out a new solution for their trodden left tackle.

Talking to reporters this week, Mike McCarthy floated the idea the Cowboys may be holding Smith from practices going forward. He indicated special accommodations may be in order for his veteran standout.

The problem hasn’t been Smith’s level of play slipping, it’s been his availability. When he’s been well enough to compete, Smith has generally been a great NFL tackle. Even a bumped, bruised and aged, Smith has been better than what most teams are fielding.

But his health status has been so volatile week to week, the Cowboys almost needed to roster six starting-quality linemen on the team, because whoever was playing OL6 is sure to get starter-level snaps. Look no further than this season where Chuma Edoga, Dallas’ OL6, has 312 snaps already. That’s just two snaps shy of Smith’s season total of 314.

If the Cowboys can preserve Smith by forging practices from here on out, why not make special accommodations for the veteran? The idea of putting him on ice for six days and thawing him out for gameday may not sit well with everyone, but it’s a simple solution to a problem that’s been plaguing them for years.

That’s not to say practices aren’t important. They help the offensive line grow as a unit and they help the unit deal with items such as blocking handoffs against various stunts and blitzes. Missing practice isn’t nothing.

At the same time this needs to be seen as a special circumstance. It’s not about developing Smith – it’s about preserving Smith. And Smith has shown he can walk right into gameday and perform with the best of them.

After suffering a stinger two weeks ago, Smith missed nearly every practice and a game. He barely got on the field in the leadup to the Eagles game. When he did take the field beforehand, he was just going through the motions. But when the ball was kicked off, Smith was honed in, arguably posting his best game of the season.

How good is Smith?

Timo Riske at PFF broke down OL play this season. As an illustration that all blocking assignments are not created equal, he charted the difficulty of assignments and execution of those said assignments.

Smith was not only drawing some of the most difficult assignments in the entire NFL, but he was performing better than just about anyone in his execution.

The Cowboys routinely leave their star LT on an island, demanding he perform against some of the best pass-rushers in the league. And Smith hasn’t just handled it, he’s dominated.

While his run blocking appears to have slipped in the later years, his pass protection is still at unbelievable levels. He’s been nursing various injuries all season and has still found a way to grade as top-10 OT taking on abnormally difficult assignments.

If anything, Jerry Jones should hire a team of people to carry Smith on and off the field each week just to save the unnecessary wear and tear on his all-important tires.

Most are in agreement: if cutting out practice preserves Smith for games, then by all means cut practice. But what most don’t seem to see is that Smith has been getting by with little-to-no practice already and has been preforming at unbelievably high levels.

As long as Smith plays games, the Cowboys are going to be fine.

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Final Injury Report Week 10: Cowboys Turpin in doubt, Giants rule Jackson, Neal out

A look at the game designations for both clubs along with the practice statuses from the entire week. Who is healthy and who is giving it a go? | From @KDDrummondNFL

The New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys are on two completely different trajectories. After both teams made the wild-card round and won a road playoff game in 2022, things are progressing in much different fashions. After a Week 1 blowout win, the Cowboys have gone 5-3 to start the 2023 season. The Giants meanwhile have bottomed out to a 2-7 record.

To make matters worse, in his first game back after missing significant time, quarterback Daniel Jones tore his ACL in Week 9 and is done for the year. Both he and backup QB Tyrod Taylor are on IR at the moment, but those aren’t the only injury concerns for New York. On Friday they ruled out two key starters in CB Adoree Jackson and OL Evan Neal. They also have four other members of the club listed as questionable, including edge rusher Azeez Ojulari.

For Dallas, things appear to be trending upward healthwise. While they have a handful of players still on IR, of the active roster the only player with a game designation is wideout Kavontae Turpin. Turpin injured his shoulder in last week’s loss, but returned in that contest to catch a touchdown.

For a complete look at every player who was listed on the injury report throughout the week of practice, and how they progressed, check below for all game designations.

Parent Trap: Here’s how Cowboys continue to son Giants on Sundays

A closer look at the Cowboys’ paths to both victory and defeat in the rematch against the struggling Giants. | From @cdpiglet

The Dallas Cowboys returned home from a loss probably not feeling nearly as bad as their previous failed road trips. They went into Lincoln Financial Field and played nearly equal to the Philadelphia Eagles, the best team in the NFC. Dak Prescott was a wizard, running away from the Philadelphia pass rush and throwing for 374 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover. The defense held the two MVP candidates, Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown, to just average games overall.

That being said, the team still lost, and they have now put themselves two games behind the Eagles over halfway through the season. On paper, they have a chance to make up ground before the Week 14 rematch. It all starts with them doing their jobs.

The team needs to bounce back and beat the New York Giants to start a long winning streak, and beating the Giants is something Prescott has become exceedingly efficient at. The Cowboys QB has won his last 11 games against the Gotham Knights by an average score of 31.5 to 16. Dallas will need to accomplish some goals to get past the Giants though, it is the NFL, and it is an “any given Sunday” league if a team doesn’t stay focused.

Cowboys offense has been shockingly elite with this personnel group

Despite Gallup and Cooks’ struggles, the Cowboys’ best offensive package has been 11 personnel. Diving into why and what it means is @ReidDHanson.

For as great as CeeDee Lamb has been as the Cowboys WR1 this season, Michael Gallup and Brandin Cooks have been disappointing. Dallas’ WR2 and WR3 have combined for a paltry 39 receptions and 408 yards through Week 9.

Even the most conservative outlooks projected better numbers from the Cowboys’ two veteran WRs this season. Their performance indicates something could be wrong with their fit within Mike McCarthy’s offense and better personnel packages may be needed going forward. But as counterintuitive as it seems, the Cowboys are actually at their best this season when they’re operating out of 11 personnel.

11 personnel indicates the offense is fielding three WRs, one TE and one RB. It’s the most popular package in the NFL these days and something Dallas leans on 59 percent of the time.

And with it, the Cowboys have thrived.

With an average return of 0.13 EPA per play, it represents Dallas’ most successful personnel group with >30 snaps this season. Not only that, but the 0.13 is more than the Cowboys had in 2022, 2021 and 2020 under Kellen Moore.

Based on data from nflverse.com and disseminated from Chiefs analytics guru, Joseph Hefner, the only season Dak Prescott posted a better EPA/play out of 11 personnel was in 2019 when Amari Cooper, Randall Cobb and Gallup where the top-3 receivers.

I’ll take, “Things that defy logic” for 200, Alex.

For as disappointing as Gallup and Cooks have been this season, good things happen when the Cowboys go three-wide.

Initial Week 10 Injury Report: Cowboys to sit Tyron Smith forever?

A look at the opening injury report for the Cowboys-Giants rematch in Week 10. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys are approaching the health status of left tackle Tyron Smith for the Week 10 tilt against the New York Giants very carefully. Smith, back in the lineup after sitting due to a neck stinger prior to the bye week played at a high, Pro Bowl caliber level once again. While Terence Steele had his difficulties on the right side, the Philadelphia Eagles found little success on the left side.

This came after Smith sat out all of last week’s practices, not getting work until the team walkthrough. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, they say. Head coach Mike McCarthy said on Wednesday the club is considering following the routine for the remainder of the season, in order to keep the 13-year veteran as healthy as possible.

As for the rest of the roster, Dallas had no veteran rest days officially listed this Wednesday, perhaps a nod to the club’s third defeat in their last six games. Every one of the six Cowboys on the initial injury report carries an actual ailment.

That’s dwarfed however by the Giants’ report, which includes over 20% of their 53 man roster. Here’s a look at how both teams started the week.

NFL Power Rankings Week 10: Eagles, Chiefs battle for No. 1 supremacy

The NFL’s upper echelon is separating from the pack as a thick middle class continues to jockey for position.

Week 9 of the NFL is in the books and another slice of the picture has been revealed. The NFL season is a small sample size in nature, but the midpoint of the 2023 has arrived and the pecking order is clearly being established. There’s a handful of teams who have only suffered one or two losses. Then there are the teams who’ve suffered three defeats and they are divided into two groups.

The first group is composed of teams which look like they could be championship contenders but have lost games they shouldn’t have. The ither group is composed of teams whose records seem to be above their level.

Sunday’s games brought a couple of huge matchups in each conference. The early contest saw the Kansas City Chiefs outlast the Miami Dolphins in Germany. The national game saw the Eagles fend off the Dallas Cowboys’ late charge in Philadelphia. The two teams will both get a bye week before squaring off in a Super Bowl rematch. With three of the top teams in the league on a bye (San Francisco, Jacksonville and Detroit), here’s a look at the latest power rankings after all of the action.